


Old Friends

by autobotscoutriella



Series: Purimgifts: October Daye/InCryptid [3]
Category: October Daye Series - Seanan McGuire
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Gen, Old Friends, Sharks, The Luidaeg gets a day off
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-19 01:48:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29618724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autobotscoutriella/pseuds/autobotscoutriella
Summary: The Luidaeg takes Quentin to meet an old friend.
Relationships: The Luidaeg & Quentin Sollys
Series: Purimgifts: October Daye/InCryptid [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190060
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6
Collections: Purimgifts 2021





	Old Friends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [estelraca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/estelraca/gifts).



Quentin had spent enough time around the Luidaeg to be reasonably accustomed to strange happenings, but one thing he would never quite get used to was the wildlife. She didn’t go out of her way to attract sea life – at least, Quentin didn’t _think_ she did – but strange animals showing up in her general proximity was a common occurrence.

However, they weren’t usually quite that _big._ He was the Crown Prince of the Westlands, immortal, Daoine Sidhe, and squire to a Knight of the Realm – but he was also a teenage boy who had seen _Jaws_ an unreasonable amount of times, and so when the fin sliced through the water right next to the dock, he might have jumped.

 _Only_ slightly, and he thought it was justifiable, considering the size of the shark currently rubbing up against the dock.

The Luidaeg laughed at his reaction. That was also a common occurrence.

“She’s not here to eat you, boy. Relax.”

That statement was absolutely, one hundred percent guaranteed to be true. It also was not particularly reassuring, because there were a lot of ways a shark could be dangerous without eating him. That was half the fun of hanging out with the Luidaeg – you never quite knew whether a situation was going to turn dangerous or not.

“So why is she here?” Quentin watched, from a safe distance, as the Luidaeg knelt on the dock and reached down to rub the shark’s back.

“Look around,” the Luidaeg said absently. “What do you see that might attract sharks?”

Quentin turned to scan the harbor. This late in the evening, on a cool night, there wasn’t much in view. It was pretty, with boats drifting across sunset-tinged waves, but he was pretty sure sharks didn’t visit harbors for the view. “Kayakers?”

The Luidaeg cackled, loudly enough to startle away a curious seagull that had landed on the dock nearby. “I’ll accept that answer! But no. It’s the sea lions. She’s on her way north, and she’ll need all the energy she can get. A few of those will tide her over in colder waters.”

Quentin thought about asking if _tide her over_ was an intentional pun and decided that it probably was. The Luidaeg didn’t say many things unintentionally. “So why’s she in this close to the dock?”

“Just to say hi. It’s polite to stop by when I’m around.” The Luidaeg gestured for him to come closer. The shark had glided along the length of the dock, turned around, and was working her way back in the other direction; even from several yards away, Quentin could see the gleam of a dark blue eye below the surface, as the shark turned partially onto her side. “Come on. It’s polite to greet her in return.”

“Wait, you want _me_ to – ”

The Luidaeg fixed him with a pointed stare that conveyed _obviously_ just as effectively as a cutting comment would have. She might look like a teenager at the moment, black braids tied off with tape and a spray of freckles across her nose, but she still had an impressive glare when she wanted to. Quentin grinned, nervously.

“Yep, okay, I’m coming.”

The closer he got to the shark, the worse the idea of petting it sounded. It – she – was easily as big as a small yacht, and he was pretty sure no shark that size was supposed to be anywhere this close to shore. “Is she going to get stuck? I mean, there’s a reason sharks this big don’t usually-”

“Stop stalling and pet the damn shark.” There was a grin in the Luidaeg’s voice, if not her expression.

Quentin scooted to the edge of the dock and leaned over as little as possible, eyes firmly on the business end of the shark. The dorsal fin stuck up far enough that he could reach it without risking falling into the water – which was its own form of alarming, but at least he was less likely to actually swim with the shark.

“It doesn’t feel like a fish,” he offered after a few seconds of cautious patting.

“Well, of course not. What were you expecting?” The Luidaeg sat on the edge of the dock, feet dangling in the water without a care in the world, and trailed her hand along the shark’s back as it swam past and circled around for another pass. “She’s an old friend of mine, but she doesn’t spend much time in these waters anymore. I haven’t seen her in years.”

Quentin watched the shark brush past the Luidaeg’s leg, scraping lines into her overalls. It was a good thing her legs were covered, because the bit of sharkskin he had felt was rough enough to tear up skin. Still, she looked as happy as he had ever seen her, sitting on a dock at sunset with a shark rubbing up against her calves like a (very, very, very large) friendly cat.

“I’m glad she came by to see you.” Quentin sat down on the dock again, a safe few feet back this time. The Luidaeg nodded, leaning down to look at the shark without looking at him.

“So am I.”

As if in agreement, the shark thrashed its tail against the water, sending up a wave that soaked them both in cold salt water.


End file.
